Man Arrested on Second-Degree Murder Charge in Jackson Masonic Lodge Shooting in Tallahassee
Tallahassee police said Deronco V. Parker Jr., 25, was arrested about 10:44 a.m. Saturday, roughly nine hours after officers found a man with multiple gunshot wounds at the lodge on Apalachee Parkway. The victim, whose name was not released, died at a hospital.
Tallahassee police arrested a 25-year-old man on a second-degree murder charge in the fatal shooting early Saturday at the Jackson Masonic Lodge, according to a Tallahassee Police Department news release reported by the Tallahassee Democrat. Deronco V. Parker Jr. was taken into custody at about 10:44 a.m. Saturday, roughly nine hours after police responded to the shooting.
Police said detectives in the department's Violent Crime Unit identified Parker as the suspect. Investigators said Parker and the victim encountered each other and became involved in a verbal altercation, and that Parker allegedly pulled out a handgun during the argument and shot the man multiple times. Officers responded to the lodge at about 1:39 a.m. and found the victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds; officers attempted lifesaving measures before the man was taken to a local hospital, where he died. The victim's identity was not released in the department's update.
Police said Parker was located and arrested with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service and the department's Violent Crime and Career Criminal units. The investigation remains open and active, police said, in a violent stretch that the Democrat's reporting counts as at least 16 people shot in six incidents since Oct. 24. Police asked anyone with information about criminal activity to call the Tallahassee Police Department at 850-891-4200 or Crime Solvers anonymously at 850-574-TIPS.
